1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to printers in general and more particularly to a modular printer assembly having components configured as modules which can be easily and quickly removed and/or secured to the assembly to perform basic maintenance and/or convert the printer assembly from a thermal ink printer to a ribbon ink printer.
2. Background of Related Art
Thermal ink printers and ribbon ink printers are well known and widely used. These printers include a variety of complex components enclosed within a housing. Typically, the components are arranged in such a manner that it is difficult to access any one or all of the components to perform basic maintenance and repair. Thus, operational downtime to perform basic repairs and maintenance is prolonged and reliance on the availability of a service technician to maintain a printer operational is assured.
Conventional printers, as mentioned briefly above, include both thermal ink printers and ribbon ink printers. Thermal ink printers and ink ribbon printers include a majority of common components. Despite this fact, if an operator required or desired both a thermal ink printer and an ink ribbon printer, the operator would have to purchase two separate units at increased expense.
Accordingly, a need exists for a printer which is capable of operating as both a thermal ink printer and a ribbon ink printer. Moreover, a need exists for an improved, less complex printer having easily accessible internal components which facilitate speedy maintenance and repair by a service technician and/or the printer operator.